A broad variety of surgical tools are known in the prior art particularly employed in performing drilling operations of varying scope and use. Such surgical drilling tools are used in the opening of holes of desired dimensions in the skull with a scope of performing brain surgery, such holes being employed to define the path of craniotomy and removal of a necessary portion of the skull, the so called skull flap that is maintained and is put back in place onto the skull following conclusion of the surgery process. After the post-surgical replacement of the skull flap, the abovementioned holes that had been opened with a scope to effect temporary removal of the skull flap remain uncovered and necessitate coverage.
A variety of tailor made cranial plugs prepared with a raw material of a ductile, rapidly hardening paste has been employed in filling these holes in the skull. However this solution is rather unreliable, has an accuracy inferior to the required standards and may often be rejected by the recipient patient involved.
The object of the present invention is therefore to effectively overcome the disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art and propose a device that may be employed to appropriately form previously cut openings in the skull so as to render them capable of receiving standardised cranial plugs of predetermined dimensions that will rapidly cover the openings in the most reliable manner, with an optimum accuracy thereby providing a substantially reduced possibility of such cranial plugs being rejected by the recipient patient involved. The required healing period after placement of such cranial plugs is also substantially improved and the aesthetic result obtained is by far the best to be expected.
The device of the invention is adapted to perform appropriate forming of the openings made in the skull during craniotomy with a scope of forming an opening of enlarged diameter within a portion of the previously drilled opening, such opening being thereafter filled with a standardised cranial plug. The device comprises a cylindrical body member with a rear end extending into a shaft being coupled in a rotary power supply source and a frontal end provided with a cutting head with cutting teeth of triangular section. A guide head comprising a first cylindrical portion having a diameter equivalent to the diameter of the previously drilled opening that extends forwardly of the cutting head is inserted into this opening and stabilizes the device, whilst the cutting head advances inwardly therein to form the abovementioned opening of enlarged diameter, wherein the drilling operation is terminated with the contact of a circumferential ring provided at the frontal end of the cylindrical body member of the device onto the skull.
A further object of the invention is to propose an alternative embodiment of the device of the invention capable of being adjusted at a desired selected length of protrusion of the cutting head thereby effecting a differentiated depth of the opening of enlarged diameter that is going to receive the appropriately prepared standardised cranial plug.
These and other objects, characteristics and advantages of the invention will be made apparent in the detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof.